Universal french piper attachment



1955 M. FISHMAN ET AL UNIVERSAL FRENCH PIPER ATTACHMENT Filed Jan. 6, 1954 MORRIS FISHMAN SAMUEL HACKlNG IN V EN TOR.

United States Patent r 1 UNIVERSAL FRENCH PIPER ATTACHMENT g Morri s Fis hman, Somerset, and Samuel Hacking,

Fall River, Mass.

This invention relates to a sewing machine attachment for making blind stitched piping, more commonly called in the trade, French piping. r j

:Heretofore attachments for French piping have required the use of the sewing machine at a speed far slower than the full speed of the. machine. These attachments have also required the use of special. type threads that have stronger. qualities. They have also required the use of specialztype needles. Even the operator of the machine had to bespeciallytrained and possess a certain amount of mechanical skill to use and operate the previous piping attachments. p p 1 j i It isan object of this invention to enable one to manufacture articles of clothing having pipingthereon at a minimum cost.

It is another. object of this invention to providea French p ip in g attachment for sewing machines that will not interfere with the speed with which the sewing machine may be operated.

It is afurther object-of this invention to provide a French piping. attachment that may be used with any conventional sewing machine.

.ltisstill another object .ofthisinvention to provide a French hpiping attachment that can be used with conventionaltype needles and thread. a

It is yet a further object of this invention to provide a French piping attachment that can be installed and operated by any se, ordinary skill. i H

. It is yet a st illfur ther object to provide a sewing machine attachment to make French piping on any part of the surface or the edge of the fabric.

There is an additional object of this invention to provide a needle thread control for positioning the place at which the needle will penetrate the goods.

It is a further object of this invention to provide an attachment that will nake the stitching on the French piping uniform and exact.

Briefly these and other objects are attained by use ofan attachmehtthat has means for being connected to the sewing rnachinej head. proximate the needle, that has meansfor eliminating the last thread guide on the head and has a series of structural features that replace the guide andkeeps the needle back against the assembly and fo r ces the needle to penetrate the cloth which can be more specifically understood by reference to the following detailed description: p

Figure l is a side elevation of the attachment looking towardthe side that is furthest from the sewing machine head. i j

*Figure 2 is a front elevation of Figure 1 showing the needle and head.

Figure 3 is a top elevation of Figure l.

Figure 4 is a view in perspective of the the sewing machine head. v

Figure 5 isan exploded view of'Figure 2 showing the ridge former in detail.

The presser foot chassis is made up of a vertical arm attachment and ing machine operator possessed of but Patented Nov. 22, 1955 11 and a horizontal arm 12. The presser foot body 8 is welded or made integral with the presser foot chassis 11 and 12. At the lower portion of the presser foot body 8 is a presser foot tunnel 8b. The horizontal section 6 of the penetration control, which also has a vertical section 7, is inserted in the tunnel 8b. An adjustable screw 1 controls the penetration depth of the penetration control. The threaded portion 1a of the adjustable screw is received into the presser foot body 8. The adjustable screw 1 may be locked into the presser foot body 8 by means of a lock set screw 2. This insures the position of the penetration control 6. At the end of the penetration control 6 is a ridge former 6a which controls the position of the ordinary needle 16 as it penetrates the goods.

Above the presser foot. chassis 12 and attached to it is a presser foot receiver 4 which receives the presser foot bar 17. Attached to the receiver 4 is a needle thread control 5 which is mounted in the opening 5a in the receiver 4. A thread guide lock screw 3 is mounted transverse of the opening 5a and locks the needle thread control 5 into position. j

The cloth that is used for the piping is fed into the folder 13 which curls the piping in the conventional manner in a preparatory state for the stitching operation. The folder 13 has attached to its forward portion a cloth bed 13a for feeding the actual goods to which the piping is to be attached into the path of the ordinary needle 16. The folder 13 is connected to the assembly in an adjustable manner. There is integral with its left side (Figure 3) a folder attachment plate 14 having therein. an elongated slot 141). Mounted in the folder connecting plate 10 are two set screws which are hereinafter referred to as lateral adjustment screws 14a and which pass through the elongated slot 14b.

In the folder connecting plate 10 are mounted forward adjustingscrews 10a in slots 10b which allow the folder to be adjusted in a forward and backward direction.

The lower part of the assembly is most important. Reference is made to the view of Figure 2. The presser foot body 8 has at its lower right edge a beveled surface which rises at about 45 from the bottom presser foot surface 8a. This slope 8c prevents the cloth, coming from the folder 13 and from across the cloth bed 13a, from jamming the ordinary needle 16.

Another feature is the path of the thread 15 which passes along the guides 19a, 19b and which are mounted on the head. On most heads similar to this one, 18, is a lower guide located at about the spot 19d. This has been eliminated and the thread control 5 has replaced it. This guide is adjustable and keeps the thread 15 behind ordinary needle 16 exerting a certain amount of. pressure upon the needle and keeping it pulled back against the ridge forming 6a. A cloth guide flange 9 extends above the ridge former 6a and guides the goods into the path of the needle.

r In operation, the first requirements are to set the unit up on the sewing machine by connecting it into the presser foot bar 17, by means of the presser foot receiver 4. After the size and thickness of the cloths have been determined, the proper folder 13 is selected and properly positioned on the folder connecting plate by means of the screws 14a and 10a which as aforementioned control the lateral and forward position of the folder 13. Qnce the folder is lined up properly, it is necessaryto adjust the penetration control 6. The ridge former 6a on, the end of 6 pushes the piping material into the path of the needle and must be positioned so that the-stitching ofthe goods will be'properly located. It is also necessary to adjust the needle thread control 5 so that the thread 15 is at a proper angle, to the needle to balance any forces on the needle. Once the settings of ridge former 6a has been determined the look screw 2 prevents nut 1 from going out of adjustment. The needle thread control 5 is similarly locked by means of set screw 3. The operator is now ready to feed the material to the needle 16.

Forthe sake of simplicity, the material has been left out of the drawings. One skilled in the art will understand that the'folded material passes through the folder 13 and by means of guide 9 is pushed into the path of the needle. The cloth or material to which the folded material or piping is to be sewn can be fed simultaneously into "the path of the needle so that the entire stitching is done in one operation. As a matter of fact a third piece of material may be fed into the path of the needle.

These latter materials are best fed over the cloth bed As can be seen from the above description the needle 16 is only under tension from the thread and may be operated at the full speed of the machine without concern for breaking the needle. The quality of the thread 15 is conventional, and is not required to be stronger or more resilient. There is no concern over thread breakage.

Once the proper adjustments have been made any unskilled operator can feed the machine with the desired materials.

Since this attachment is mounted on the presser foot bar 17, the French piping may be sewn to any portion, surface or edge of the fabric, by merely feeding the fabric to the needle at the proper point.

The attachment is simply attached to the sewing machine. The gist of the invention is the proper angle 3. An attachment for a sewing machine for making 'French piping comprising an L-shaped presser footwhereby piping material having been folded in said folder of the thread resulting from the needle thread control 5 in conjunction with the penetration control 6 and its end, ridge former 6a, and the flange 9.

The ridge former forces the piping material into the path of the vertical reciprocating needle 16. The position of ridge former 6a determines the position of the stitching, obviously. The flange 9 prevents the piping from rising and clogging. It controls the path of the piping to the needle. The bevel 80 on the bottom of presser foot body 8 prevents the piping from catching between the body 8 and the working surface of the sewing machine. The location of thread guide or control 5 neutralizes the pressure on the needle 16 as it enters the goods. This prevents breakage of both the thread and the needle and allows the machine to be operated at its full speed.

Compared to other types of French piping attachments the cost of manufacture of this invention is much more inexpensive, beside the fact that there are no of the penetration control in said tunnel, and means forv locking said, means for adjusting whereby said ridge former may be locked into position. 2. An attachment for a sewing machine for making French piping comprising an L-shaped presser foot chassis having a vertical and horizontal portion, a presser foot body connected to the vertical portion of said presser foot chassis, a horizontal tunnel in the lower portion of said presser foot body, a penetration control mounted through said tunnel and. having a ridge former extending therefrom, a cloth. guide flange extending from said body above said ridge former whereby an inlet is formed on the surface of said presser foot body between the ridge former and the cloth guide flange.

is kept below said flange and proximate said ridge former as it passes to the sewing machine needle.

4. A sewing machine for attaching French piping to garments comprising a needle to be reciprocated in a vertical direction, a presser foot bar, a presser foot receiver connected to said presser foot bar, an adjustable thread guide attached to said presser foot receiver, a

presser foot chassis secured to the bottom of said presser foot receiver, a presser foot body secured to said chassis opposite from said receiver, a cloth guideflange mountedon said body beneath said adjustable thread guide, a horizontal tunnel in said body, a substantially fiat pene tration control extending through said tunnel and having a ridge former beneath said flange, and means for adjusting the position of said ridge former with respect to the position of said needle.

5. A sewing machine for attaching French piping to garments comprising a needle to be reciprocated in a vertical direction, a presser foot bar, a presserfoot receiver connected to said presser foot bar, anadjustable thread guide attached to said presser foot receiver, an

L-shaped presser foot chassis having a horizontal and vertical section, said horizontal section connected to said receiver on its upper side and to a presser foot body' on its lower side, a folder, said vertical section connected to means for supporting said folder, a ridge former, and a substantially flat penetration means in said presser foot body for controlling the position of the ridge former with respect to the position of the needle.

6. A sewing machine for attaching French piping to garments comprising a needle to be reciprocated in a vertical direction, a presser foot bar, a presser foot receiver connected to said presser foot bar, anadjustable thread guide attached to said presser foot receiver, an L-shaped presser foot chassis having a horizontal and vertical section, said horizontal section connected'to said receiver on its upper side and to a presser footbody on its lower side, a folder for making French piping, a plurality of plates, connected to said folder, means for connecting said plates to the vertical section of said chassis, a horizontal tunnel in said presser foot body, an

adjustable penetration control extending through said:

tunnel and having a ridge former opposite the needle, and a cloth guide flange extending from said body just above said ridge former whereby a path for controlling:

the movement of the piping and the cloth to the needle is created.

7. An attachment for a sewing machine for making French piping comprising a presser foot receiver, a tum nel in said receiver, an adjustable penetration control mounted in said tunnel and having an exposed portion extending therefrom, means for locking said guide in a fixed position in said tunnel, a presser foot chassis connected to said receiver, a presser foot body connected to,

said chassis, a folder for making piping, means for connecting said folder to said chassis, said body having a cloth guide flange extending above. the. exposed portion of said penetration control whereby the path of the piping as it moves is controlled. j

8. An attachment for sewing machines for controlling the position of the stitching of piping as itis. pushed into the path of a vertical reciprocating needle comprising an adjustable ridge former for guiding piping into the path of said needle, a pressed foot body in which said ridge former is located, a chassis below which said body is attached, a presser foot receiver attached above said chassis, an adjustable thread guide mounted in said receiver whereby thread is fed to the needle from the same side as said ridge former and whereby the pressure exerted on the needle from the piping is neutralized.

9. In an attachment for sewing machines, a presser foot body having a flat bottom surface with a bevel of 10 about 45 to a vertical surface proximate a vertical reciprocating needle, a horizontal tunnel therein, a flange extending above said tunnel, a flat elongated member inserted in said tunnel, a device for locking the position of said elongated member in said tunnel, a ridge former on the end of said member extending from said tunnel 'below said flange for pushing the piping into the path References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 597,663 Woodward et al. Jan. 18, 1898 2,347,145 Ackerman Apr. 18, 1944 2,437,978 Seaman Mar. 16, 1948 2,527,582 Sigoda Oct. 31, 1950 

